Stadler, Gallacher make big jumps in OWGR

Kevin Stadler rose to a career-best 57th in the Official World Golf Ranking following his first PGA Tour victory, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

With the win, Stadler, who improved 70 spots from 127th, not only earned a Masters berth, but also moved into position to qualify for the WGC-Accenture Match Play later this month. The top 64 available players in the OWGR as of Feb. 10 get into the event.

Here is a look at those on the bubble:

60. Bernd Wiesberger

61. Peter Hanson

62. Marc Leishman

63. Boo Weekley

64. Richard Sterne

65. Scott Piercy

66. Kiradech Aphibarnrat

67. Brendon de Jonge

68. Brooks Koepka

69. Peter Uihlein

70. Hyung-Sung Kim

Also earning a spot in the Match Play field was Stephen Gallacher, who jumped 40 spots to 37th in the world. Brooks Koepka, who was T-3 in Dubai, moved into the match-play conversation after moving up 25 spots to 68th.

While just 64 players earn spots, two players in the top 64, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson, have already said they plan to skip the event. World No. 1 Tiger Woods is also expected to skip match play. So 68th could potentially be the last spot in.

Other OWGR observations:

• Bubba Watson and Graham DeLaet, who both tied for second in Phoenix, moved to Nos. 25 and 26, respectively. Hideki Matsuyama is now 22nd after tying for fourth.

• Thorbjorn Olesen’s T-3 showing in Dubai only moved him up one spot to 59th.

• Rory McIlroy tied for ninth in Dubai, but dropped a spot to seventh, switching spots with Zach Johnson, who is now sixth.